It is believed that Saint Thomas Christians of Malabar were in communion with the Church of the East from 496 to 1599.[8] They got episcopal support from Persian bishops, who traveled to Kerala in merchant ships through the spice route, while the local leader of the Saint Thomas Christians held the rank of Archdeacon and was a hereditary office held by the Pakalomattam family. In the 16th century, the overtures of the Portuguesepadroado to bring the Saint Thomas Christians into Latin RiteCatholicism led to the first of several rifts in the community by Portuguese colonialists and the establishment of the Catholic and the Malankara Church factions. Since then, further splits have occurred, and the Saint Thomas Christians are now divided into several fragments, due to western interferences. The Malankara Church is still remains as a part of Oriental Orthodoxy.

Saint Thomas Christians were administratively under the single native dynastic leadership of an Archdeacon (അർക്കദിയൊക്കൊൻ) (a native ecclesiastical head with spiritual and temporal powers, deriving from Greek term arkhidiākonos) and were in communion with the Church of the East, centered in Persia, from at least 496.[9][10] The indigenous Church of Malabar/Malankara followed the faith and traditions handed over by the Apostle St. Thomas. During the 16th century, the Portuguese Jesuits began deliberate attempts to annex the native Christians to the Catholic Church, and in 1599 they succeeded through the Synod of Diamper. Resentment against these forceful measures led the majority of the community under the Archdeacon Thomas to swear an oath never to submit to the Portuguese, known as the Coonan Cross Oath, in 1653. The Malankara Church consolidated under Mar Thoma I welcomed Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, who regularized the canonical ordination of Mar Thoma as a Bishop.

Meanwhile, the Dutch East India Company defeated the Portuguese in supremacy of the spice trade in Malabar in 1663. The Malankara church used this opportunity to escape from Catholic persecution with the Dutch East India Company's help. At the request of the Malankara Church, the Dutch brought Gregorios Abdal Jaleel of Jerusalem, a bishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church, in their trading vessel in 1665. Mar Thoma I forged a relationship with the Syriac Orthodox Church and gradually adopted West Syrian liturgy and practices.

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The East Syrian Prelate, Mar Yuhanon signed on behalf of the Churches of Persia and India at the first organized gathering of Christianity, the Synod of Nicea held in 325 AD. The East Syrian Canonist Ibn Tayyib says ‘In the time of Catholicose Mar Ishaq (309-410) the Metropolitanates of Fars and Meru and in the time of Mar Ishu Yab-I/ II/ III (582-660) Halwan, Harat, Samarkhand, India and China were created’. Mar Ishu Yab warned in his two letters to Mar Shimyun, Metropolitan of Fars (Riwardisher) located in southern Persia that his independent stand will not hamper the ecclesiastical needs of the people of India. Ancient East Syrian (Persian) crosses found out in many places with writings in Pahlavi language engraved on it, as seen at Kadamattom Orthodox church, Kottayam Canaanite church, Mylapore church are also pronounce our close relationship with Eastern Church.

Malankara Nazranies also had evolved a script (Karshoni) to write Malayalam after making certain changes in east Syrian script, even though ‘Vattezhuthe’ an early form of Malayalam was in vogue . The present day Malayalam script was formulated and used by Indo-Aryan settlers on the lines of Devnagari for the translation of their Epics to Malayalam after 12th century. Aarthat Padiyola in copper plate (preserved at University Manuscript Library, Trivandrum), declaring the sovereignty of Malnakara Church in 1806 was written in old Malayalam script. An early script, ‘Kharoshti’ (used in Ashoka edicts) prevailed in northwestern India was also developed from eastern Syriac, which helped to decipher identical edicts written in India’s original but defunct Prakrit languages. Even many documents related to 17th & 18th century also reveals the attachment of Nazranis to Eastern Syria. A memorandum by Malankara Nazranis to Roman Pope against compulsive westernization during 17th Century states that, “All our prayers are written in the Chaldean Syriac of our Apostle father St. Thomas”. A Jesuit priest Nunes Barutha of that period states that : “Marthoma Christians are not believe in any other teaching other than written in Eastern Syriac”. In 1682, Bartholomew, a West Syrian Malpan from Aleppo was appointed in Verapoly seminary by Carmelites. But Malankara Nazranis strongly opposed the appointment to teach their students by a West Syrian teacher. Canon of Udayamperoor synod (page 79)specifically asked to discontinue the use of Eastern Syriac in liturgy and prayers for native Malayalam. Eastern Aramaic (Syriac) was widely used in Malankara upto 17th century, and all borrowed words and names from Syriac to Malayalam are phonetically in Eastern Syriac. Later, Malankara Nazranis were almost adapted to Western Syriac and liturgy due to ecclesiastical support and long stay of many Antiochean prelates in the second half of 17th and 18th centuries. At the outset of Latinisation, Nazranis were reluctant to accept Latin bishops. When Vasco-da-Gama arrived in Cochin in 1502, Metropolitan Mar Yahb Alla assisted by Mar Denha, Mar Yacob and Mar Yuhanon sent by Babylonian Patriarch (See of East Syrian Catholicose shifted from Selucia to Baghdad began to known as Patriarch) ministered from Ankamaly along with Arkidhyaquana. Cardinal Tisserent in his book ‘Eastern Christianity’ states that even after the arrival of Portuguese, Babylonian Primates, continued to sent prelates and they ministered in Malanakara viz. Mar Yacob (1503-49), Mar Joseph and Mar Elias (1556-69), Mar Abraham (1568-97) and thereafter Mar Simeon. Most of them were detained by Portuguese under Goan Inquisition and sent to Bassein (Vasai), Lisbon or Rome for orientation in Latin language, tradition & liturgy. In 1601, Menezes consecrated Fr. Francis Roz as bishop of Ankamaly, which marked the beginning of Roman Catholic hierarchy in Malankara. In 1652, Mar Ahathalla, a prelate from East Syria reached Mylapore (most emotive place in India for every East Syrian in early times) and the news of his detention and torture by Portuguese, caused the great uprising of 1653 known as ‘Coonan (bend) Cross Oath’ in which Malankara Nazranes proclaimed that they or their descendants will not make any relation with Rome and elevated Thomas Arkidhyaquana as Metran (bishop) by laying hands on him by 12 Priests. Meantime, the Capuchin missionaries catholicized and formed Chaldean Catholic Church and restricted their old tradition to sent bishops to Malankara. Such a circumstance to get Apostolic Hand to the newly elevated bishop, we sought the help of other orthodox Churches like Antioch and Alexandria through Dutch East India Co. due to their vast mercantile connections in cities and ports. Antiochean Church responded and their Jerusalem Bishop Mor Gregorios reached Malankara in 1665 in a Dutch ship. The Dutch who defeated Portughese in 1663 for trade monopoly and the Malankara Church wanted to escape from the clutches of Portuguese caused to the arrival of many more contingent of Antiochean prelates, including Maphriyonos of Mosul, Eldho Mar Baselios (passed away on the 8th day of his arrival and considered as a saint, whose mortal remain is interned at Kothamangalam) and then Mar Sakralla with a team of Metropolitans and priests. When Malankara Syrians began to accept Antiochean prelates, Roman faction got an opportunity to call Malankara people as ‘Puthenkootukar’ (new tradition) and call themselves as ‘Pazhyakootukar’ (old traditionalists) to cover up their 54 years of new European relation. In fact, Latin rites introduced in Malankara by Menezes was much more strange and embarrassing than West Syrian rites for Malabar Christians who were genetically accustomed with Syrianism. Moreover, they found the west Syrian liturgy and rites are much attractive due to its purity among other rites which are corrupted by human modifications. Latin Catholicism failed to attract Malankara Nazranis, thence Portuguese had to resort appeasement as well as pressure tactics to win Syrians to their fold. In the Coonan Cross Oath. almost total strength of Syrians supported Arkidhyaquana, but within few decades, out of 116 church communities, 84 communities were annexed to Romanism. According to Thomas Whitehouse, Portuguese distributed rice snacks hidden with gold coins to make large turnout of people for their introductory meetings. Kerala‘s long water ways helped the Portuguese soldiers to directly intervene in coastal churches, while geographically interior churches spared due to lack of roads at that time. They asked Kochi, Vadakkumkoor, Thekkumkoor and Ambalapuzha kings to put diktats to their Syrian subjects to join Catholicism.

The church had no written constitution until 1934, but was governed by consensus, traditions and precedence. It was the vision of Mor Dionysius, Vattasseril, to have a clearly defined uniform constitution to govern the church administration. He initiated action and appointed a sub-committee with O.M. Cherian as convener to submit a draft constitution. The committee members had discussed the fundamental issues with the Metropolitan in several rounds, but it was not finalized and passed (materialized) in Cherian's lifetime.

After his demise, the constitution was presented in the Malankara Christian Association meeting of 26 December 1934, held at M. D. Seminary. It was adopted and brought to force. The constitution has been amended three times to meet specific situations and needs. The validity of the constitution was challenged by the Patriarch party in the Court, but the Supreme Court's final verdict declared the validity of the Constitution. Every member of the Church is bound by the rules and regulations laid down in the Constitution.

The Constitution upholds the autonomy and autocephaly of the Malankara Orthodox Church. It is Episcopal in its (polity) and not congregational. At the same time it upholds democratic principles by safeguarding the rights and privileges of the lay men. The constitution enshrines the fundamental features of the Church, provides direction for its internal administration, and preserves its integrity and autonomy. The essential features of the Church are provided in the preamble.

The first article emphasizes the bond of relationship between the Orthodox Syrian Church and the Malankara Church. It defines Malankara Church as a division of the Orthodox Syrian Church and the head of the Orthodox Syrian Church as the Patriarch of Antioch.[11] The second article says about the foundation of the Malankara Church by St. Thomas and the primate of the Orthodox Syrian Church of the East as the Catholicos. The third article refers to the name of the church and the fourth about their faith traditions. The fifth is about the canons governing the administration of the Church.

The whole constitution conceives the Malankara Church as self-sufficient in all her requirements, be it temporal, ecclesiastical, or spiritual in nature, and upholds that the Malankara Orthodox church is rightly autocephalous in character.

Geevarghese Mar Dionysius of Vattasseril, who ascended the throne of Malankara Metropolitan in 1908, played a significant role with the other clerical and lay leaders of Malankara in re-establishing the Catholicos of the East in India in 1912. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church wanted to retain its autocephalous nature. It appealed to the deposed Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Mor Ignatius Abdul Masih II. He ordained Murimattathil Paulose Mar Ivanios as Baselios Paulose I, as Catholicos of the East on the Apostolic throne of St. Thomas. The ceremony was held at St. Mary's Church, Niranam on 15 September 1912.[12] The church in the 20th century remained the most favored and strong denomination to be fully eligible for St. Thomas heritage. The lineage of St. Thomas is preserved based on two grounds. Firstly, the founder and first primate of the Church is St. Thomas, the Apostle of Jesus Christ; and secondly, the church has no dependence on nor is under any foreign churches outside India (in short, autonomous and autocephalous).

The history of immigrant community of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of the East in the United States begins approximately in the mid-20th century. During this period a number of priests and laity came to the US for higher studies and training. Mathews Mar Coorilos Metropolitan (later Moran Mar Baselius Mar Thoma Mathews II) stayed at the General Theological Seminary in 1963 and returned to India in 1964. Mar Coorilos celebrated Holy Qurbana occasionally during his stay there. Fr. K.M. Simon looked after the Church service after Mar Coorilos left for India. This service was ecumenical in nature; Malayalees of any denomination participated.

In 1965, the United States Congress passed a bill which cleared the way for thousands of professionally qualified individuals to immigrate to the US.[citation needed] Many Malankara Orthodox Christians came to the United States during this time. In 1968 Fr. G. John (John Geevarghese), an Ecumenical Fellow at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, started celebrating the Holy Qurbana every Sunday in the Seminary chapel, thus organizing the first congregation on America soil. After 1970, the Malankara Orthodox Church gradually spread to many major US cities with increasing numbers of clergy and laity. In 1976, the Holy Synod decided to establish more dioceses in various parts of the world. At this time, the numerous churches in America were placed under the authority of the Metropolitan of the Bombay Diocese, Thomas Mar Makarios. On 14 July 1979, Mar Makarios was given authority over the new American Diocese under the authority of the Catholicos of the East, Baselius Mar Thoma Mathews I. In 1991, Mathews Mar Barnabas took charge of the Diocese. In 2002, Zacharias Mar Nicholovos joined the Diocese. In 2009, the 'American Diocese' was split into the Northeast American Diocese and the Southwest American Diocese. As of 2013[update], the Northeast American Diocese had more than fifty parishes, more than forty priests, and fourteen deacons and seminarians.

The church has theological seminaries at Kottayam and Nagpur, and dioceses and churches in most parts of India, the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Western Europe, Africa, Persian Gulf nations, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

The name Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church refers to St. Thomas Christians of India that come under the Catholicate of the East whose supreme head is the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan, with its headquarters at Devalokam, Kottayam, Kerala, India.

Since the 17th century, the Malankara Church uses the Malankara Rite, which belongs to the Antiochene liturgical tradition. The East Syrian (Persian), Byzantine, Armenian, Georgian and Maronite liturgies also belong to the same liturgical family. In the first half of the 5th century, the Antiochene Church adopted the anaphora of Jerusalem, known under the name of St James the disciple. In the 4th and 5th centuries, the liturgical language of Jerusalem and Antioch was Greek. Therefore, the original form of St James liturgy was composed in Greek.

Following the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Eastern Church was divided into two, one group accepting the council and the other opposing it. Both groups continued to use the Greek version of St James. The Byzantine emperor Justin (518–527) expelled the non-Chalcedonians from Antioch, and they took refugees in the Syriac speaking Mesopotamia on the Roman–Persian Border (modern Eastern Syria, Iraq and South East Turkey). Gradually, the Antiochene liturgical rites were translated into Syriac. New elements such as Syriac hymns were introduced into it.

Mar Gregorios of Jerusalem came to Malankara in 1665 and introduced Syriac Orthodox liturgical rites. The most striking characteristic of the Antiochene liturgy is the large number of anaphoras (Order of the celebration of the Eucharist). About eighty are known and about a dozen are used in India. All of them have been composed following the model of Liturgy of St James.[13]

The ritual service (liturgy) is called the Holy Qurbana, which is derived from the Aramaic word korban (Hebrew: קרבן), meaning "sacrifice".

The Holy Qurbana is mostly conducted and prayers recited in Malayalam. However, some parts of the Holy Qurbana are sung in Syriac. During the 20th century the 'Qurbana-kramam' (i.e. the 'book containing the order of worship') was translated into English, for the benefit of worshipers who lived outside Kerala, who did not know to read or write Malayalam.

The word "Catholicos" means "The General Head". It can be considered as equivalent to "Universal Bishop". There were only three ranks of priesthood in the early Church: Episcopos (Bishop), Priest and Deacon. By the end of the 3rd century, certain bishops of certain important cities in the Roman Empire gained pre-eminence over other bishops and they came to be known as Metropolitans. The Ecumenical councils of the 4th century recognized the supreme authority of these Metropolitans. By the 5th century the bishops in major cities such as Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch gained control over the churches in the surrounding cities. Gradually they became the heads of each independent regional church and were called Patriarch, which means common father. The same rank in the Churches outside the Roman Empire was called Catholicos. There were four ancient Catholicates in the Church before the 5th century. They were the Catholicate of the East, the Catholicate of Armenia, the Catholicate of Georgia and the Catholicate of Albania. None of these ranks and titles are the monopoly of any church. In Orthodox tradition, any Apostolic and autonomous national church (often referred to as local Church) has the authority to declare and call its head Catholicos, Pope or Patriarch.

Puthiyakavu Palli

The reign of the Archdeacons started from the 4th century and lasted until the 16th century. The third stage started when the archdeacon was elevated to the position of a Bishop by the community with the name Marthoma I in 1653. Since then the head of the community was the Marthoma Metrans and later the position was developed to Malankara Metropolitan with more recognition.

In 1912, the Catholicate of the East was relocated to India, and Baselios Paulose I was seated on the Honorary Apostolic Throne of St. Thomas as the Catholicos of the East. The Headquarters of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is the Catholicate Palace located at Devalokam, Kottayam, in Kerala state of India. It is the official headquarters of the Catholicos of the East who reigns on the Supreme Throne of St. Thomas the Apostle. This seat of the Primate of the Church was consecrated on 31 December 1951. Mar Elia Cathedral, Kottayam is the Thronal Cathedral of the Catholicos of the East.

The new Aramana (palace) which was built in 1961 was inaugurated by the visiting Armenian Catholicos Vazgen I.

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was founded by St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, who came to India in 52 AD.

At least from the fourth century the Indian Church entered into a close relationship with the Persian or East Syrian Church. From the Persians, the Indians inherited East Syrian language and liturgies and gradually came to be known as Syrian Christians.

In the sixteenth century Roman Catholic missionaries came to Kerala. They tried to unite the Syrian Christians to the Roman Catholic Church and this led to a split in the community. Those who accepted Catholicism are the present Syro-Malabar Catholics. Later, Western Protestant missionaries came to Kerala and worked among Syrian Christians; the first few decades of cooperation was cordial, but dogmatic differences and colonial nature of the missionaries created splits in the community.

In the seventeenth century, the Church came to a relationship with the Antiochene Church which again caused divisions. As a result of this relationship the Church adopted West Syrian liturgies and practices.

The Church entered into a new phase of its history by the establishment of the Catholicate in 1912.

At present the Church is using the West Syrian liturgy. The faith of the Church is that which was established by the three Ecumenical Councils of Nicea (325 AD), Constantinople (381 AD) and Ephesus (431 AD).

The Church is in communion with the other Oriental Orthodox Churches namely, Coptic, Armenian, Syriac, Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches. The Church is in good ecumenical relationship with the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches.

At present the Church has over 2 million faithful with 30 dioceses all over the world.

A number of seminaries are present in the Church. Most of them which currently serve as monasteries functioned in full capacities at one time or the other. At present, the two seminaries that offer bachelor's and master's degrees in theology include:

The Malankara Association is the elected body consisting of members from parishes which manages and controls the religious and social concerns of the church. Traditionally convened as the Malankara Palli-yogam (മലങ്കര പള്ളി യോഗം, meaning Parish assembly of Malankara), the modern form of the Association is believed to have been established in 1873 by Pulikkottil Joseph Mar Dionysious II by convening a meeting of the parish representatives in Parumala. In 1876, Mulanthuruthy Synod, an elected body in the name of the Malankara Association officially took charge.[21] Church constitution details the powers and responsibilities of the Association.

The Malankara Metropolitan is the president, and the Diocesan Metropolitans are the vice-presidents of the association. The Association elects the Malankara Metropolitan, Catholicos of the East, Metropolitans, priest trustee, lay trustee, Association Secretary and Managing Committee Members. Each parish is represented in the Association by a priest, and lay people elected by the parish general body, proportionate to the membership strength of each parish.

^John; Anthony McGuckin (November 2010). The Encyclopedia Of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, 2 Volume Set. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwells. p. 878. ISBN978-1-4443-9254-8. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, also known as Indian Orthodox Church, is one of the major and oldest churches in India. The church is believed to have been founded by the Apostle St. Thomas in 52

^Lucian N. Leustean (2010). Eastern christianity and the cold war, 1945-91. New York: Routeledge Taylor&Francis Group. p. 317. ISBN0-203-86594-4. India has two main Orthodox churches, the autocephalous Malankara Syrian Church and autonomous Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church under jurisdiction of Syrian Patriarchate. However, in 1912 there was a split in the community when one part declared itself an autocephalous church and announced the re-establishment of the ancient Catholicosate of the East in India. This was not accepted by those who remained loyal to the Syrian Patriarch. The two sides were reconciled in 1958 when the Indian Supreme Court declared that only the autocephalous Catholicos and bishops in communion with him had legal standing. But in 1975 the Syrian Patriarch excommunicated and deposed the Catholicos and appointed a rival, an action that resulted in the community splitting yet again. On 21 January 1995 the Supreme Court of India stated the existence of one orthodox church in India divided into two groups and recognised spiritual authority of the Syrian Patriarchate, acknowledging at the same time the rights of the autocephalous Church

^http://www.cnewa.org/default.aspx?ID=9&pagetypeID=9&sitecode=hq&pageno=1 |quote= However, in 1912 there was a split in the community when one part declared itself an autocephalous church and announced the re-establishment of the ancient Catholicosate of the East in India. This was not accepted by those who remained loyal to the Syrian Patriarch. The two sides were reconciled in 1958 when the Indian Supreme Court declared that only the autocephalous Catholicos and bishops in communion with him had legal standing. But in 1975 the Syrian Patriarch excommunicated and deposed the Catholicos and appointed a rival, an action that resulted in the community splitting yet again. In June 1995 the Supreme Court of India rendered a decision that (a) upheld the Constitution of the church that had been adopted in 1934 and made it binding on both factions, (b) stated that there is only one Orthodox church in India, currently divided into two factions, and (c) recognized the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch as the spiritual head of the universal Syrian Church, while affirming that the autocephalous Catholicos has legal standing as the head of the entire church, and that he is custodian of its parishes and properties. This decision did not, however, result in a reconciliation between the two groups, which in 2007 remained separate and antagonistic.

^MOSC. Constitution:First clause and second clause. 1. The Malankara Church is a division of the Orthodox Syrian Church. The Primate of the Orthodox Syrian Church is the Patriarch of Antioch. 2. The Malankara Church was founded by St. Thomas the Apostle and is included in the Orthodox Syrian Church of the East and the Primate of the Orthodox Syrian Church of the East is the Catholicos.